


The Gift

by HotaruGFC (JaclynGFC)



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Gift Giving, Self-Loathing Charlotte, Wall Sex, yami can cook
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:02:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaclynGFC/pseuds/HotaruGFC
Summary: Charlotte works up the nerve to give Yami the gift she got him.
Relationships: Charlotte Roselei/Yami Sukehiro
Comments: 24
Kudos: 169





	1. The Gift

Charlotte had no idea when her squad had made the suggestion that Julius would run with it. A joint training exercise was one thing, but this all-out battle between the captains? This was something else. And of course, she was on the team pitted against Yami. Part of her hoped they would cross paths. After all, her squad had been right in their assessment that her growth was limited by them. One can only improve when striving to reach higher goals. And Yami's skills were if not legendary, renowned. It didn't hurt that he had crossed swords with her other self when she was possessed. Maybe by facing him, she would be able to unlock whatever the elf spirit had been able to access?

But then, all of the other captains also had famed skills, against which she could improve. In that sense, there was nothing special about Yami. Not really. 

When the battle was announced and the teams were formed, her squad members squealed in delight. They even went so far as to suggest she should seek him out, touting her ease on the battlefield as a means to overcome her inability to talk to him. Maybe they were right? Maybe a meeting of combat would help her feelings breakthrough? 

Most of her, however, wanted to avoid him at all costs.

Charlotte sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed. She rubbed her hands over her face feeling the characteristic fluttering in her gut she always felt before a contest or a battle. Part adrenaline, part fear, part excitement, Charlotte took several deep breaths to still her vibrating nerves. When she opened her eyes, a small brown box caught her gaze as it sat on a table across the room. She stood up to retrieve it from its perch and cradled it gently in her hands. She slipped the lid off of the box and looked at the object inside. The nervous fluttering returned as she looked at it. She had meant to give it to him a week ago, part thank you and part apology--in thanks for his attendance at the dinner her squad had cooked up, and in apology for her behavior at said dinner. She had hoped the gift, and an invite to dinner might make it up to him, and might push her past the wall she had long ago built around her heart. But when she tried, she chickened out. 

"Such a failure." She muttered as she closed the lid once more and put the box back on the table. 

And to add insult to injury, just the other day he had caught her when she tripped over her own feet. And she had run away from him again. She tried not to run. Really she had. But he was so close, so warm, and the scent of him was so heady, her mind shut down and she reacted on instinct. If only her instinct wasn't so messed up and twisted. Shouldn't a woman's instinctual reaction to being in the arms of the one she loves be one of longing or desire? But no, hers is to run. Always to run.

Charlotte bit her trembling lip and squeezed her hands together as she sat once more on the edge of her bed. Silent, warm, angry tears slid down her cheeks and she brushed them away with fury. 

She hated herself for being like this. She wanted to change, but every time she tried, she ended back where she once was. 

The memory of her squad's hopeful scenario came to mind, one where Yami professed his feelings for her, and they got married. She had denied it could happen, of course, but part of her wished it would be that easy, that she could just respond to him instead of having to build the strength to make the first move. 

But nothing in his manner even suggested he was interested. True, he had suggested they take care of each other when they get old that one time, but that was just him teasing like always, wasn't it?

Charlotte grunted and flopped back on the bed. She shouldn't concern herself with all of this. Not now when she had a contest to win.

She had been the last one to arrive at the meeting when the contest was proposed. She hadn't wanted to seem upset when she arrived, but the concerned looks from the rest of the captains--even from Julius, made her wonder if her frustration was as evident as she feared. Of course, the only seat left had been the one next to him. She avoided looking at him as she took it, even though she could feel his eyes on her the entire time. She hadn't even thanked him for catching her.

"What a mess I am." Charlotte sighed heavily as she stared at the ceiling. Yet one more thing she needed to apologize for.

She sat up suddenly and with a sense of purpose. She looked at the small box as she made her decision. 

"No matter what happens in the contest tomorrow, I will give him that stupid gift, even just to thank him for everything he's done for me over the years."


	2. The Giving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Charlotte follow through with her recent decision?

Charlotte stood holding the small box, cradling it gently in her hands as she waited for him to make an appearance. The other Captains walked by with only a passing glance her way. Only Jack seemed to take any notice of her, and the box she held. She had decided to wait for him to show up, to meet up with him before the meeting as a way to force her hand. If she waited any longer, she might never give the gift to him. 

She sighed and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes as she took a deep, centering breath. She could hear the sound of his boots upon the stone floor as he entered the building for only a moment before all she could hear was the sound of her beating heart. 

"What'cha doing out here?" His voice, deep and sonorous, vibrated within her soul.

Charlotte release a slow breath and looked down at the box in her hand before turning toward him.

"Waiting for you, actually." While she had managed to get the words out, she could already feel her face turning scarlet and the urge to run building in her feet. She bit hard into her lip to keep herself focused.

When her gaze finally reached his face, all she saw was surprise.

"I, uh, I realize that I... I may have been remiss in my acknowledgment of something... well, several somethings actually..."

"What are you blathering about?"

Charlotte held out the box to him.

"Here. It's... It's to say thanks. For, well, for a lot of things."

Yami looked at the box as if it would grow teeth and bite him.

"Go on. Take it, please. I promise it won't bite." Charlotte bounced with nervous energy, yet held her ground instead of bolting away.

Yami looked from the box to her and back again before gently lifting the box from her hands. 

"Second rare thing to happen to me right here," he mumbled. "Can I open it?"

"I, uh, sure. If you want." Charlotte looked from him to the ground. "Though if you want to wait too, that would be fine." She added quickly.

Yami lifted the lid and took a peek at the gift inside the box. The corner of his lips turned up in a small smile as he closed the lid back.

"Thank you, Charlotte."

"Yes, well, you are welcome." Charlotte cleared her throat. She nodded and then turned to continue her way to the meeting. She stopped a short distance away and turned back to him. She cleared her throat.

"Um, and I was also wondering if... If you would like to join me for dinner again sometime? I... have something I would like to discuss." She asked hastily. 

Yami's eyebrows shot up.

"The surprises just keep coming today, eh Prickly Queen?"

"Will you, or not?" Charlotte could feel the twisty feeling in her gut which usually meant she was about to flee the situation.

"I'll never turn down free food." Yami dropped his spent cigarette to the floor and pulled another out from the pouch on his belt.

"Good. Okay then. Tonight? Same place as last time?" Charlotte squeezed her hands into fists as the shakiness in them spread to her voice. She hoped Yami hadn't noticed. But from the slight change in expression, as he nodded, she was certain he had. 

Charlotte nodded in response before continuing her way toward the meeting as fast as she felt was socially acceptable, which was far slower than she wanted to be moving. 

Everyone had arrived at the meeting before her, well, everyone except Yami. She could feel the gaze of the room on her as she entered and sat. She placed her hands on the table, spreading her fingers wide, as she released a slow breath. 

"Well, that's one. Only missing one more..." Julius smiled at the table with his boyish countenance just as the door opened once more. "And now we're all here."

Charlotte glanced up as Yami rounded the table and behind her chair, only to find the empty seat next to her. She balled her fists once more and placed them in her lap as she turned her attention to Julius and the important business at hand.

***

After the meeting, Charlotte escaped from the room in a rush. She made some excuse about having plans with her squad regarding training, which wasn't exactly a lie, but the training schedule had been built in a way to accommodate these meetings. No, she had other business to attend to before the training – Business she might need some advice on, but which also caused her concern when she thought about who she could ask for advice. Her squad was so eager for her to push the next step with Yami that she feared they would read too much into the dinner. She wanted to ask him about joint training between their squads. It wasn't meant to be a... date.

Except that is exactly what she had meant it to be and she didn't have the courage to ask him in such a way as to make it clear that it was indeed a date. 

And now she needed to figure out what she was exactly doing. Should she follow Puli's advice from the dinner her squad had set up? Should she show off her body to entice him and to show him her interest in something more than a professional relationship? She couldn't very well wear the same outfit she had worn to the last dinner they had together, and the meal before that... well, it was all professional. She didn't want to wear her standard work uniform either... 

She approached the restaurant, pushing the thought of what to wear to the side for a moment. She still needed to make sure she could get a table. She stood at the door to the restaurant for a long moment before working up the courage to open it. Inside, the building was dark and subdued with lighting designed to enhance the romantic mood of the entire place. Charlotte wondered if Yami would pick up on the atmosphere this time or not. Her money was on him being as dense as ever. She sighed as she stepped up to the maitre d. 

"Excuse me, do you have a table for tonight?"

"I'm sorry, but..." The young man started to say as he looked at a schedule book. When he looked up, however, he smiled broadly. "Captain Charlotte Roselei! We, of course, have a table for you!"

Charlotte smiled at the young man, but her smile held no warmth and a touch of disdain for how quickly he changed his tune upon seeing his guest.

"Will you be dining alone? With a group? Or with someone special?" The smile he flashed back to her seemed far more suggestive than Charlotte thought appropriate. Charlotte cleared her throat before fixing him with her cool gaze.

"I will be dining with a colleague for business." While she may have wanted the dinner to be a date, she also did not want everyone assuming it was a date. Her cold, stony, carefully crafted facade hid a torrent of panicked excitement. Somehow, laying the plans for the evening made everything seem so much more real. 

"Ah, I see." The young man seemed disappointed. "We will have a table ready for when you and your guest arrive. I'm assuming a table on the balcony would be acceptable? Or would that be too... intimate for a business dinner?"

"The balcony will be fine. Thank you." She said through clenched teeth. The mention of the dinner being intimate was almost too much for Charlotte to handle. She turned without another word and left the restaurant. 

A clock tower in the distance chimed and Charlotte remembered her appointment with her squad for extra training. 

"Guess I'll figure out what to wear later." She muttered to herself as she hurried back to her base.

The training session went by quickly and Charlotte was surprised by the chiming of another clock, marking the start of the evening hours. The sun drifted low in the sky, approaching the horizon when Charlotte called off the rest of the session.

"We can call it a day for now. Go get something to eat and rest up. Tomorrow will be a busy day." 

"More Training, Sis?" Sol seemed more excited than usual. 

"Yes. Defeating the devil will be no simple task. We must be at our best."

The girls in the squad nodded in agreement.

"Any word on the joint training session with the Black Bulls, Captain?" One of the other girls asked. As she turned to her to address the question, she was shocked to see such eager looks on all of the faces staring back at her. 

"I... I haven't exactly had the opportunity to ask him yet." 

The faces fell in unison.

"But, I plan to ask him tonight." Charlotte continued and then grimaced as she realized the secret she had let slip.

"Tonight?" Puli asked the excitement returned to her voice.

"Are you meeting him?"

"Is it a date?"

"What are you doing?"

The questions poured out of the gathered women like a deluge. Charlotte sighed and hung her head.

"Yes. I'm meeting him. No. It's not a date. It is business. And we are going to dinner." She answered the questions she had been able to pick out of the flood.

"Dinner sounds more like a date than business, Captain." Puli winked at her.

"If Sis says the dinner is business, then the dinner is business," Sol replied defensively. The rest of the squad ignored her.

"What are you going to wear, Captain?"

"You should totally wear something sexy." 

"No, remember, last time he didn't seem that impressed."

"Didn't he ask if she were cold or something?"

Charlotte shook her head and turned toward the building. The conversation continued even as she left and illustrated why she had wanted to keep the night's event to herself. 

As she entered her bedroom, she regretted not having one of her squad who she could trust to help her with this who also wouldn't make it such a big deal. Most of the girls seemed to blow her non-existent relationship with Yami way out of proportion. 

Still, she did need to figure out what to wear.

In the end, she decided on the simple skirt and top she wore to the Star Festival. Not the garish gown Sol had picked out – which would seem fairly out of place for the occasion, even if it did fit her handsomely, nor the low cut dress Puli had given her for the dinner that everyone was calling a mixer. The skirt and blouse were modest and professional enough to serve for the cover of a business dinner, while also being more feminine and a step up from her normal casual wear. 

As she looked at herself in the mirror, she wondered if it would be enough for Yami to finally get the picture. She sighed, convinced she could dance naked on the table and not manage to pique his interest. 

"At least you can ask him about the training between our squads, and thank him properly for saving you... all those times." She told herself as she swished her skirt in the mirror. 

The entire squad had turned out to see her off and to give her words of encouragement. All of the faces staring at her were so excited and hopeful. All except Sol's, which always made Charlotte feel a twinge of guilt. She had never done anything to lead the poor girl on, but she could in no way return her affections. One day, Charlotte prayed, Sol will find someone of her own.

As Charlotte walked away from the crowd of women, she heard one shout after her.

"Don't come back until you kiss him!" 

The image those words conjured brought such a flush to Charlotte's face, she feared people would mistake her for a fire spirit. 

Echoing laughter and shouts of support followed Charlotte as she left the complex and wrestled with her thoughts about what the evening could bring.

***

"Captain! Captain! I found these yummy mushrooms and some amazing seafood I'm going to use in dinner tonight!" Charmy said excitedly as she and Yami ran into each other as they approached the Black Bulls base. Yami grunted in response. 

"I can't wait for everyone to try them. I think I can use them to boost mana even further. Sometimes it's all about the right ingredients. La." 

The shrimp's excitement over food was like nothing Yami had ever seen. He hated to disappoint her, or any members of the Bulls. 

"How long do you think before it would be ready?"

"By dinner. Certainly."

Yami grunted once more.

"You all enjoy. I have plans."

Charmy froze and looked at Yami's retreating back.

"You... you're going to miss dinner?"

"Yeah. I'll get dinner out though." He said as he pushed through the front door. The common room he walked into was awash in its typical chaos. Several members of the squad were drinking, relaxing, or even fighting in the room, despite his standing order to go out, train, and get stronger however they could to fight the devil and the Spade Kingdom. He shook his head slightly at the madness before him, wondering if managing these idiots was worth it. But then he could not help but smile at the family of misfits he had gathered. No matter what he thought at the moment, he knew that he loved those assholes.

"But, But..." Charmy started to argue as she followed him into the building. 

"I'm sure whatever you're making will be wonderful, but I have plans tonight."

The entire room seemed to stop as everyone turned to look at Yami. Even Luck and Magna who had been tussling with each other froze mid-grapple.

"What?" Yami eyed the room with suspicion. "It's not like you guys care what my schedule is."

Luck punched Magna as the room erupted with questions. 

"Do I have to take you?" Finral asked. 

"Yes, idiot. I'm still pissed that you left me in the capital. You're lucky you're useful."

"What are you going to be doing?" Gordon asked.

"Eating."

"Can I go see Marie?" Gauche asked.

"No."

"What's in the box?" Vanessa prodded, poking at the small container Yami had forgotten he was holding.

"It's, uh, nothing." Yami deflected.

"Are you going gambling? I wanna go gambling."

"Silly Magna, it's probably something... captain-y and you aren't invited."

"Captain Yami comes home with a mysterious present and is going out that night..." Asta brought his hand to his chin as if he were thinking. "This has got to mean something."

"Don't think too hard, Bakasta. You'll hurt yourself."

"He has a date," Nero added softly. Every head in the room--except for Gauche's--swiveled toward her and then back to Yami who looked at her skeptically.

"I wouldn't say it's a date... Dinner between two colleagues, sure. But it's not a date."

"Two colleagues? Just you and someone else?" Finral asked, his interest piqued. 

"Who are you going to be with, Captain?" Vanessa asked with a tremble in her voice.

"Where are you going?"

Yami sighed. Might as well tell them, he thought. Otherwise, Finral will spill everything anyway.

"Yes. Charlotte and I have some things we need to discuss. And since we both have to eat, we're going to discuss them over dinner."

"Charlotte? The Blue Rose Captain?" Vanessa's voice turned jealous.

"Are you certain it isn't a date, Captain?" Gordon asked softly from near his shoulder.

"Of course it's a date!" Finral added with excitement. "I mean, what would a romantic dinner with a beautiful woman be if not a date. I wish I could go on dates." He added pitifully.

"It's just business over dinner, nothing romantic about it."

"Where are you going then?" Finral asked.

"The same place we had dinner at before. That place in the capital with a really nice overlook and good food. Don't remember the name."

Finral seemed on the verge of explosion from jealous excitement. He exchanged glances with Gordon, who was also smiling. 

"It's a date," they said simultaneously.

"Did she give you the present too?" Gordon asked, pushing Vanessa out of the circle closing around Yami. 

"Yeah. Why?" 

"Yami, I think you better sit down." Finral patted Yami's arm and pointed him toward the table. As Yami sat down, Finral and Gordon took seats opposite him.

"What do you think of Captain Charlotte, Yami?" Finral leaned on the table, interlacing his fingers in a praying position as he propped his elbows on the surface. He placed his chin on his clasped hands.

"She's a good fighter, a good captain. Sometimes she a little too stubborn for her own good. She's done amazing things despite being cursed."

"Aside from all of that, Captain. What do you think of Captain Charlotte... as a woman?" Gordon decided to get straight to the point.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think she's pretty?" Finral asked in a sing-song tone.

Yami looked from Finral to Gordon and back as if they had both spontaneously grown two more heads and four arms.

"What?"

Both men sighed.

"You can't be blind to her more... feminine qualities," Finral said in disbelief. Gordon nodded in agreement.

"Charlotte hates me. She would rather do anything than spend time with me. She hates me so much that she runs away from me every chance she gets. You were there a few weeks ago, Gordon. You saw it." 

"I saw her run, yes. But I don't think it was for the reason you think it was."

"What else could it be? I try to be friendly, try to get to know her a little bit, but as soon as we touched on accident, she bolted. And the other day when she tripped and I caught her, she took off then too." 

"Wait, she tripped?" Gordon asked.

"And you caught her?" Finral finished the thought. He and Gordon turned to each other.

"I've been speaking to my best friend Puli, who is in Captain Charlotte's squad, and she has mentioned that her captain has some very strong feelings for Captain Yami," Gordon said to Finral as if Yami was no longer present. 

"Really? What kind of strong feelings?" Finral asked with a completely unsurprised grin on his face.

"Hatred." Yami supplied.

"Puli said they definitely weren't negative feelings."

"Could it be... that Captain Charlotte actually maybe likes Yami?"

"You two have gone off your rockers." Yami shook his head and started to stand up.

"I believe 'like' was mentioned in there when I asked her about it." 

Yami sat back down. He had to admit, something was up with Charlotte. At the dinner party, after the fiasco with her running and ending up in Finral's arms of all people, Yami had started to wonder if there was some sort of... connection between them. He hadn't been able to keep himself from looking at her once her subordinate spirited her to his side. He still wasn't sure why she had done that, but the view was most appreciated, as was the conversation. It was then that he started feeling... something for her, and maybe feeling something from her that was more than disdain. Since then, her ki had felt... different somehow.

"Oh, I think we have his attention, Gordon."

"Let's say you've sparked my curiosity. I still think you're insane, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt right now."

"Great!" Finral exclaimed as Gordon grinned.

"Stop that, it's creepy," Yami said as he pulled out and lit a cigarette. Gordon's smile fell.

"Well, Yami. You and Charlotte are going out to dinner."

"Yeah."

"Did she suggest it or did you?"

"I can't afford a dinner out at that place for myself, and you know that."

"Only because you can't stop running off to play cards as soon as you get paid, Yami. A habit that might need to change if things go well tonight. You might end up with a family to think about."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Finral," Yami said as a warning.

"So she asked you." Gordon refocused the conversation. Yami shifted in his seat and looked down at the box on the table. 

"Yeah." He released a long slow stream of smoke. "I guess she did. But she said she needed to discuss something with me."

"And you assumed it was work-related," Finral said with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, yeah, why else would she need to talk to me."

Finral and Gordon looked at each other and sighed.

"Listen, Yami. If she didn't explicitly say the dinner was business-related, you don't assume that it is."

"The dinner party set up by the Blue Rose Knights certainly did not seem to be business-related," Gordon added.

Yami looked from one subordinate to the other.

"So, you're saying that Charlotte..." He gestured with his hands as he tried to find the right word. "Interested in me? Like, what? Physically? Romantically?" Yami could not keep the look of disbelief from his face.

"Yes!" Gordon practically shouted.

"Both!" Finral confirmed.

"What makes you so sure? I mean, you two aren't exactly poster boys of romantic encounters." 

Finral's face fell as he pouted and Gordon withdrew a bit, but Finral shook of the statement as he did his many rejections over the years.

"That doesn't matter, because I've had plenty of experience with women who don't like me. I know what that looks like. And Captain Charlotte? She doesn't react to you like any woman I've ever seen. I wish I could get a girl to look at me like she looks at you."

"And I may not have ever dated, but over the years observing people, I've come to find that there is a certain... spark between two people who are attracted to each other."

"And you're saying that Charlotte and I have that spark."

Both of the younger men nodded in response.

"Fine, whatever. Maybe it is a date. That doesn't mean I'm going for more than the free food."

Yami pushed himself back in his chair with a loud scrape of wood against wood. He stood up quickly and snatched the box from the table before leaving the motley pair to slump dejectedly in their seats.

So what if it's a date? Yami thought as he tossed the small box onto his bed. He tried to feel as nonchalant about it as he could, to make himself believe that it didn't matter, but he suddenly felt a fluttering in his gut that he hadn't experienced very often in his life. Despite his age, and what others might think about him, he had never actually been on a date before. He had left with women he had met at bars or the casino, sure, but he wouldn't exactly call those dates. And if he were to be honest with himself, the idea of falling for someone, anyone, but especially someone like Charlotte, terrified him. 

If what Finral and Gordon said was true, and if that connection he had felt with her since the last time they shared a meal was any indication, he wondered if it might already be too late to stop.

"Shit." He collapsed onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. The more he thought about the situation, the more nervous he felt. He did not like the feeling one bit. He tried his old trick to help him stop worrying – committing the problem to a future him who was better equipped to handle it, but the feeling only resurfaced time and again, along with the memory of her looking up at him as he caught her and kept her from falling. She had been so close he could feel her panting breath and her heart pounding in her chest. At the time, he had thought her reaction was simply due to fear of falling. 

But he also remembered how he wanted to lean into her, how he wanted to kiss her, and how confused he felt after she had run. 

Maybe something was there, something she couldn't admit or hadn't realized until recently. Maybe that was the reason for the sudden invitation.

"Gah." Yami sat up on the edge of his bed once more. If this dinner really was a date, what the hell was he supposed to do? 

He needed advice and not from the failed lover boy or the silent stalker on his squad. He needed information from someone older, wiser. He grabbed the magic communication device from the top of his chest and activated it. 

"Yami?" A confused Marx sounded through the device. 

"Mushroom head, let me talk to Julius."

"The Wizard King is busy at the moment." Marx said in his normal voice, but then with an angry whisper added, "No seriously, I just got him to do his work. He can talk later."

Yami heard some commotion and Julius's voice distantly over the device. The Wizard King and his aide argued a moment before Julius spoke on the device directly.

"Yami, it's strange of you to call like this, especially on a meeting day." Julius addressed him jovially.

"Yeah, well, gotta stay on your toes, you know."

"So why are you calling?" Julius asked, his voice suddenly serious.

"I... I have a problem, and you were the first person I thought of, even though I'm not sure you can help."

"Oh? Well, this sounds interesting."

"But now thinking about it, maybe I should ask someone else. Just the thought of asking a thirteen year old for dating advice seems... odd, even for me."

"I may look thirteen, but I'm still older than you, Yami." Julius retorted. "And did you say, dating advice?"

Yami stared at the communication device and took a deep breath. 

"Yeah, maybe. I don't know."

"What's going on, Yami." 

"So, Cha... this girl, woman actually, asked me to dinner. I said yes, and didn't think anything of it. I mean, free food, am I right?"

"You always did think with your stomach."

"Well, some members of my squad think it might be... more than dinner, and... I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do."

"Do you like this woman?" 

Yami shrugged. How could he answer such a question? Yes he liked her – she was a good comrade, a sister-at-arms, but Yami had the feeling Julius meant something else with the question. 

"What do you mean?" Yami deflected.

Julius's sigh was audible through the device.

"I mean, do you think she is attractive? Do you like spending time with her, or do you want to get to know her better?"

Yami had been afraid he had meant something similar to this when he asked if he 'liked' her. He still did not have an answer.

"I don't know. I mean, I guess, it's just that... we haven't always seen eye-to-eye."

"You don't really see eye-to-eye with anyone, Yami."

Yami grunted in frustration.

"But, I digress. Do I know this woman?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, I guess not." Julius sounded mildly offended as if he were put out by Yami's secrecy on the matter. "And I'm not sure if I'm the best person to get dating advice from. And not just because I look like I'm thirteen." Julius cut off the remark before Yami could make it.

"I mean, I haven't really dated much myself, and when I did... well, it's been a while. But, if you do think you might like this woman, maybe you should do what you can to show her how much of a gentleman you can be."

Yami scoffed at the idea.

"Don't laugh. I know you can be a gentleman. After all, I've taught you everything you need to know."

"Well, I guess that makes you a lousy teacher."

"Hey!"

Yami chuckled.

"That hurt." Julius's pout could be heard even over the communication device. "But seriously, dress nice, comb your hair, and for the love of all, take a shower or something." 

The sound of other voices coming through the magic communication device grew larger and louder until Yami could distinctly make out Marx's angry voice talking down to Julius. Yami could picture the entire scene in his head. 

"Okay, okay, I'm coming Marx." The voice sounded faint as if Julius was distracted and turned away from the microphone in the device. 

"Have fun with Charlotte on your date, Yami," Julius said quickly and quietly before the communication device shut off. 

"What the..." Yami muttered before flopping back onto the bed. "Does everyone see something that I don't?" He closed his eyes for a minute and tried to figure out exactly what was going on, only to decide the bath might be a better place to do some thinking.

The bath was empty when he first arrived, but after a few minutes of relaxing, Finral joined him. They sat in silence, letting the warm air and water soothe them, for a while before Finral decided to speak up.

"Listen, Yami. I'm sorry we were pushing the issue. If you say it's not a date, then we should accept that."

Yami grunted in response, his eyes closed as he soaked.

"But what if I wouldn't mind if it was?" Yami muttered after a while. "What do I do? How do I let her know that?"

"Are you asking me for advice?"

Yami shrugged.

"I don't know. You have any to give?"

"Well, you could always come out and ask her directly."

"And if it isn't? Then what? I'll look like an idiot." 

"That's never stopped you before." Finral chuckled.

Yami sighed, knowing he was right. The fear of looking foolish was something new and unexpected. Was it limited to just looking like an idiot in front of Charlotte, or was it some other deeply seeded lack of confidence rearing its head? He pushed the thought aside, a problem for a future him to figure out.

"Anything else?"

"Don't dress in work clothes? Try touching her. Smile. Ask about her." Finral listed several ideas before sighing himself. "Or at least that's what I would do if I ever managed to get a girl to go on a date with me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Dinner Time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought I had posted this like weeks ago...

Charlotte stood waiting, fidgeting in front of the restaurant. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she tried to not pace along the street. Her anxiety vibrated through her body like a plucked violin string. 

He's late, she thought, only to correct herself with a reminder that she hadn't set a specific time with him, only that they would meet up in the evening. 

Her feet started moving on their own accord, carrying her back and forth in front of the restaurant. Her soft shoes padded silently along the stonework in the sidewalk, unlike the heavy clomping her boots would have made. Her pale blue skirt swirled around her ankles with each silent step. As she turned once more, her shoe caught on a crack in the stonework, tipping her forward. She stumbled once, but could not find footing as she started to fall. 

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and kept her upright. The feeling sent a jolt through her body.

"You alright?" Yami asked as she straightened and turned toward him. He had ended the contact as soon as he was confident she had regained her footing, careful not to linger too close for too long.

Charlotte's breath caught as she looked up into his brandy colored eyes. She nodded even as embarrassed desire colored her cheeks.

"Yeah." She scanned him and gasped in surprise when she saw he was wearing a proper shirt for a change. It was unbuttoned a little lower than was respectable, perhaps, but she did not think it would have closed around his thick neck anyway. And she didn't really mind too much. 

Charlotte felt a war raging within her mind as the desire to stay and have dinner and enjoy herself fought to overcome her instinct to run. She knew Yami already thought she hated him. She couldn't afford for him to think she was completely crazy too by running away after she asked him to come. 

"Should we go inside?" She felt her voice crack a bit.

"Yeah, you sound like you could use a drink." 

Charlotte looked over at him in shock. He knew what happened when she drank.

"Of water." He clarified.

"Oh, right." 

***

Yami could see her pacing even from down the street. At first, he didn't quite recognize her in the skirt that swished around her legs, but as he approached he grew certain. Her ki was unmistakable. He was about to call out to her when she turned and stumbled. She stumbled again and started to fall. Fortunately, his reflexes were faster and he caught her and helped her get back to her own two feet. He did his best to avoid looking into her eyes. He had guessed that had been his mistake the last time. He couldn't risk an unwanted kiss, at least, not before he got his free meal.

Once she stood confidently on her own, Yami took a step back.

"You alright?"

She looked up at him then and he felt himself starting to drown in her clear blue eyes. The pink blush on her cheeks made them stand out all the more.

"Yeah." 

He took a slow deep breath as her eyes traveled over him. He used her distraction to do the same and found himself quite please with what he saw. He knew she had worn a skirt – that much he could tell from a distance, but she also wore a simple black top which showed most of her arms. The top was outlined with white ruffles of lace down the front, at the collar, sleeves, and bottom, giving what could have otherwise been a plain garment a distinctively feminine touch. The look was subdued, understated, and absolutely beautiful.

"Should we go inside?" She with a croak.

"Yeah, you sound like you could use a drink."

The look she gave him was pure confusion and shock.

"Of water." He added, amused at her assumption that meant alcohol, though not surprised by it.

"Oh, right." Her face flushed a darker crimson, which usually was a sign she was about to bolt, but this time she stood her ground. 

Yami reached for the door a fraction of a second she did, brushing her hand in the process as he grasped the handle before her. She jerked her hand back as if the touch had burned her, much like she had done before, only she managed to stay by his side as he pulled the door open. Her breath was shaky as she released it and stepped through the opening into the restaurant.

Once they were shown to their table, Yami pulled one chair out before circling the table to the chair he claimed as his own. As Charlotte sat down, her face was a field of questions.

"You are being quite the gentleman tonight." She said.

"Just because I don't often use all these etiquette things, doesn't mean I don't know 'em." He picked up the menu which had been placed on the table before him.

"I'm sorry. It's just... surprising is all." She turned her attention to the menu as well. 

"Julius made me learn, something about helping me fit in. Not that I care much about that."

"Of course. What other things did Julius teach you? I mean, I know he took you in when you were younger."

"All sorts of things. Stuff about magic, and how armies work, politics, and philosophy. How to read, write, play cards, dance..."

"You know how to dance?" Charlotte could not keep the shocked amusement from her voice. She looked across the table at him, her menu was forgotten for the moment.

Yami lowered his own menu and looked at her shining face. The smile she wore was incredulous but it lit her face like the sun.

"Maybe I'll show you sometime." His own lips twitched up in something between a smile and a smirk before he turned his attention back to the menu. Would she try to run if he pulled her onto a dance floor? Part of him wanted to find out. He looked around the restaurant, but despite the live music playing in the background, he could see no place to dance. Another time then.

"What about you?" He asked. "What did your family make you learn?"

Charlotte started with a soft gasp. Had she not expected the conversation to turn toward her?

"Oh all the normal things, I guess. Reading, writing, science, magic, politics, music."

"Music?" Yami cut her off. "What do you play?"

"Did, and I sing, though not anymore. I mean, I haven't in years." 

"A shame. Say, how 'bout when I show you that I can indeed dance, you grace me with a song?" Yami leaned forward on the table and rested his chin on his fist as he smiled at her. Charlotte chuckled nervously and looked down at the menu once more for a moment before looking back up to him.

"Fine. I warn you though. I never was any good." She met his smile with a nervous one of her own. 

"I'll be the judge of that," Yami said as the server came over to the table ready to take their order. 

Charlotte looked at the young woman and tried to look professional and reserved, but a wide smile kept threatening to erupt across her face. 

"I'll take the fish." She said at last with a chuckle. Yami had never seen her so relaxed, so free. He could not take his eyes from her, even though she tried her best to avoid his gaze. Even when the server asked for his order, he couldn't bring himself to look at the young woman.

"I'll have the same." He said, prompting a curious look from Charlotte where she finally met his eyes. "What?"

***

Charlotte had no idea what sort of alternate world she had walked into, but she could not stop smiling and giggling. And Yami wouldn't stop looking at her. After he opened the door for her and pulled out her chair, she started questioning if this was the same man who had always infuriated her at meetings and who teased her on the battlefield. She tried following Puli's advice from before, asking him questions and getting him to talk about himself. She had learned a few interesting tidbits, but then he always seemed to turn the questioning back around to her, getting her to open up more and more. 

And now Charlotte couldn't believe she had agreed to sing for him at some point in the future. She had no reason to suspect he would let her out of the agreement either. One day, he would come to collect.

And then he orders the same meal as her? The night just seemed to get more and more strange.

"What?" He asked as she looked at him after he placed his order.

"Nothing. I just, I guess I never thought of you as a fish guy."

"Oh, so you think of me?" He had meant the question to be a sarcastic tease, but he didn't know how on the money the question was.

"I mean, I guess I had you pegged for a steak person."

"Okay. I mean, it's not like I didn't grow up in a fishing village or anything. Or that I was out fishing when I washed up here." His toothy grin belied the teasing nature of his comments.

"What was your life like back then? Before you came here?"

Yami shifted in his chair and a dark cloud seemed to pass over his face. 

"Let's talk about something else. You mentioned you needed to talk with me about something?"

"Oh, right." Charlotte placed her elbows on the table and leaned onto the overlaid backs of her hands. "I've come upon a little snag in training my squad. It's a snag that has affected me as well, and I was wondering if maybe you and the Black Bulls could help fix it."

Yami raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Look at you, asking for help." He chuckled. "Depends what you need, but we might be able to lend a hand."

"I was thinking a joint training exercise might be useful."

"Joint training. Huh. That's an interesting idea."

"It's difficult to improve and develop new techniques if everyone around you already knows all your moves. And besides, I've sort of..." Charlotte blushed with the effort of admission. "I've sort of hit a wall with my own training. I'm not improving by sparring against the same people repeatedly, especially people who aren't even at my level."

Yami nodded.

"I get that. So what do you want from this joint effort?"

"Well, just a little variety wouldn't hurt. Both for my girls and myself. Maybe a mock battle between the squads? Or... I haven't really thought through the details." 

Can't really tell him the entire suggestion came from my squad as a way to force this romance, she thought. 

Yami sat back in his chair and scratched at a spot under his jaw.

"It's an interesting idea, the mock combat. Maybe team battles like Julius had us do?"

"You think he would let us use the arena field?" 

"Knowing Julius, he would probably want to watch."

Charlotte chuckled. 

"We should ask him at the next meeting," she suggested. "But in the meantime, perhaps some small group sparring? Or even one on one?"

"Sounds good to me."

"We should probably compare rosters."

"Or we could just have everyone get together and pair up then? No need to be so formal about it."

The idea of going into such an event without orchestrating most of the details or having multiple contingency plans rubbed Charlotte the wrong way. She wondered, and not for the first time, how his squad could even function with his lackadaisical attitude about everything.

"I... guess that could work."

"Sometimes you just need to put people together and see what happens. Too much planning gets in the way of that sometimes." He gave her a cocky sort of grin. 

"We'll try it your way, then. And I'll set up the mock battles if we get permission." Charlotte suggested as a compromise.

"Sounds fair. And, uh, who did you have in mind for your sparring partner?"

Who else could it be? She thought, but she already felt as if she had swollen his ego enough. She shrugged in response.

"Didn't you just say we should just wait and see what happens?"

Yami opened his mouth as if he were going to respond only to shut it again.

"Fair point."

As he conceded and Charlotte released a sigh of relief, the server placed their meals before them. Charlotte leaned over the steaming dish and wafted the aroma rising from it toward her before picking up her fork and flaking off a bit of fish. She sighed in pleasure as the lemony flavor hit her tongue.

They ate in silence, but Charlotte's mind was focused on anything but the food after the first couple of bites. She kept glancing at Yami across the table from her, wondering what had happened. the evening had seemed to be going so well and then it started to turn sour. She placed her fork on the side of her plate and watched as he sat head down, focused on eating. He ate quickly, barely pausing to breathe. Once he had finished, he placed his own fork down and looked up at her.

"What?" He asked before downing the rest of his drink in a few loud gulps.

Charlotte smiled at the dichotomy of his behavior and appearance. 

"Nothing."

"Are you not hungry?"

Charlotte picked up her fork again.

"Just... distracted." She took a small bite of her food but kept glancing up at him as he stared at her from across the table. 

***

Yami could tell she had something on her mind as she ate. She certainly was not lying when she said she was distracted. Something had shifted in their conversation earlier. She had started to push into a place he wasn't quite ready to go, not with her, not yet. But the push had darkened his mood and strained the easy conversation they had shared earlier. Yami missed how relaxed and open she had been, but he could not quite find a way to bring it back. So he watched her eat. His eyes tracking the measured movement of her hand as she lifted tiny morsel after tiny morsel to her mouth. He lifted his newly refilled glass of wine to his lips. 

She kept glancing at him as he watched her. After a bit, she spoke up.

"I'm not going to finish this. You want some?" She admitted finally. 

"They took my plate away." 

Charlotte pushed her plate toward the center of the table and separated the food neatly in half.

"Oh, your fork too, huh?" She said, realizing his side of the table was clear except for his glass of wine. She sighed.

"Finish what you want. I'll take the rest after."

"It's not fair to make you wait." Yami could see her cheeks shifting to a soft shade of pink as she scooped up a much larger bit of food than she had measured out for herself. She held the fork out to him. He looked at it for a second, thinking it would be easy to take it from her hand. Instead, he smirked then leaned in and used his mouth to take the offered food. When he looked up at her, she stared at him in shock. She took another small bite once she recovered enough to continue eating. He chuckled as her face turned crimson instead of pink.

"You gonna give me any more?" He said as he leaned on the table and propped his cheek against one fist. Whatever had been bothering her had fled. 

"Fine." she scooped up another forkful and held it out to him again. He kept his eyes on her the entire time as he leaned forward and ate what had been offered. He watched for any subtle movements or changes in her, deeply examining her ki, studying her in far more detail than he had ever needed to study anyone before. He made note of how her eyes lingered on his lips as he took the bite. He watched as her mouth parted slightly and her tongue flicked over her lips. He could hear her sharp inhalation as if all other sounds in the room fell away. He could feel the warmth of her body rising along with the color in her cheeks. Her eyes were dilated to a dark blue-black when she lifted her gaze to meet his. And she quickly looked away, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath. 

She took another dainty bite of food for herself while avoiding his gaze.

Yami could not believe he hadn't noticed it before. He couldn't believe he had mistaken her attraction for hatred all these years. True, she had hidden it well, perhaps even from herself, but now that he had looked deeper, more closely, her strong feelings were obvious. 

And now he felt like he needed a cigarette. His own heart was pounding in his chest as he looked at her, watching her lips and the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. The feeling came back, the same one he had felt when he had caught her the other day. He wanted to kiss her. But he wanted more than that. He wished they were back in that corridor with her pinned between him and the wall. He also wished she had worn the dress she had worn the last time they had dinner because he wanted to kiss every inch of her skin. 

He took another drink from his glass and looked out over the city below considering how he might at least get a chance to kiss her.

"Do you want any more?" The question brought him back to the moment. She looked at him hopefully, with her bottom lip trapped between her teeth as she held out another forkful for him. He held her gaze for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever as they circled the barycenter of what they both wanted. He leaned in and took the offered food, only to hear a soft sigh from her lips. 

"You can have the rest if you want." Her voice was breathless as she offered him the fork. 

***

Charlotte held out the fork to him, offering the last few bites of her meal. She could barely think after feeding him the three bites she had. Not that feeding him from her fork was in her plan when she walked into the restaurant. But now, she could barely breathe and all she could think about was his lips. She imagined how they might feel pressed against hers. Was he imagining the same?

When he took the fork from her, his fingers brushed the back of her hand gently, but their touch felt like fire against her skin and she suddenly felt warm even in her spring blouse. Maybe she should have worn something cooler? She took a sip of her water as he finished her meal. Looking over the sparkling lights of the city, she wondered if he was feeling anything remotely like she was. Did his heart pound in his chest threatening to explode? Did he feel the jolt of lightning between them when he touched her? Surely these feelings were not one-sided? 

As she contemplated, the server returned to ask if they wanted a dessert. 

"No, thank you," Charlotte said. Part of her was ready for the torture to end.

"Perhaps one to share?" The young woman looked at Yami hopefully. "We have a wonderful chocolate cheesecake tonight. Or maybe a cup of coffee or tea?"

"That cheesecake sounds good." Yami looked from the server to Charlotte. "You sure you don't want something?"

Charlotte sighed. The look he had given her was so hopeful, and yet so pitiful at the same time.

"Fine. I'll have a cup of tea, please."

"And the cheesecake, yes?" The server confirmed.

"Uh, yeah," Yami confirmed.

"One or two forks?" The server looked from Yami to Charlotte and back.

"One," Charlotte said, definitively.

Silence fell over them once more as the server walked away. Charlotte felt drained and tired. She was tired of being on edge around him all the time, tired of hiding what she felt, tired of fighting it. She leaned on her hand and looked out over the city once again. She may have convinced herself that telling her squad how she felt would alleviate some of these feelings, that she was working towards accepting what her heart was telling her, but despite everything tonight, she still struggled against them. 

"Hey, Charlotte." 

She turned her head toward him. He was looking into the last remaining bit of red liquid in his glass as he swirled it around the bottom.

"Hmm?"

"Was the joint training the only thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Um... Yeah, I guess."

Yami drank the last sip of wine in his glass before placing it on the table.

"We could have discussed that after the meeting. Why all this... pretense?"

Charlotte sighed as she looked at him for a long moment. She then turned her gaze out back over the city.

"I don't know." Stop lying to him! "I guess to apologize for... being so heartless to you." Just tell him!

The server returned and placed a large slice of cake in front of Yami and a delicate teacup and saucer in front of Charlotte. Whatever other questions or comments Yami might have had were lost as the confection in front of him captured his attention. Charlotte stirred some sugar and milk into her tea and watched as he savored a bite of the cheesecake.

"You really should try this. It is fantastic." He said around a mouthful of food. He scraped off a small bite, similar in size to the morsels of food she had taken of her dinner and held it out to her.

"I... don't really think I should," Charlotte said even as her heart screamed at her that she should. As she had fed him earlier, she felt herself being drowned in her desire. She was afraid of the intensity of what she had felt and didn't want to risk losing herself to it again.

"Oh, come on. Just one bite." He held the fork across the table. The smell wafted to her nose, and she relented. She placed her lips around the fork and took the offered morsel.   
She covered her mouth with her hand and nodded her head. She sighed, eyes closed as she savored the flavor of the cheesecake.

"That is good." She admitted before she took a sip of her tea. "But not quite as good as Selena's huckleberry tart. Her skills in the kitchen are incredible."

"She a member of your squad?" Yami took another bite.

"Yeah. She comes from a family of bakers and everything she puts in the oven comes out delicious."

Yami chuckled.

"Sounds like Charmy. Except Charmy doesn't always get around to sharing her food. Even if she means to."

"One of yours?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about them."

"What?"

"Your squad? I am reluctant to admit that I have only met some of them in passing. I'm sure they don't all live up to their reputations. And you know what they say – you can learn a lot about a person by the company they keep."

Yami looked at the sliver of cheesecake that remained. He took a bite and then scooped up the last bit and offered it to Charlotte. She leaned forward to take it from him, letting him feed her once more. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes though.

"My squad? Well, let's see... they're all asshole pretty much." Yami started crudely. "But they're my assholes, ya know? Deep down they're good people."

"Like Asta."

Yami nodded.

"Yeah." He continued to go on about the various members of the Black Bulls, pointing out their good points as well as the bad ones around which their reputations had been built. Charlotte sipped her cooling tea and listened. She smiled behind the rim of her cup as his love for his squad, no his family, shown through him.

***

The restaurant had emptied and the staff hustled to close down for the night. 

But Yami and Charlotte sat at their table, oblivious to the commotion around them, talking and laughing together as they commiserated on their lives as magic knights and squad captains. They discussed the idiosyncrasies of their members and shared embarrassing moments. Charlotte explained the issue with Sol and how she did not want to break the poor girl's heart. Yami had mentioned how Vanessa kept flirting with him, but how he could only see her as a sister and how it was weird that she even tried to push the issue.

"Like how the two of you got so super competitive at the Star Festival... What the hell was that all about anyway? It's like you two looked at each other and decided to fight."

"Oh, so like how you and Jack are always challenging each other?" Charlotte pointed out.

"That's different. Jack and I... at the end of the day, we've got each other's back. Mostly because if anyone is going to put that string bean monster out of his misery, it's going to be me, but there was something... I don't know... downright vile between you two."

Charlotte opened her mouth to explain when one of the servers came up to their table.

"Excuse me." The young man interrupted. "I really hate to do this, but we do need to close the restaurant." 

Charlotte and Yami looked around what had once been a bustling dining room full of patrons but had now turned into a barren wasteland in the span of what felt like a few minutes.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry. We had no idea." Charlotte explained and then asked for the bill. Yami slipped out of his seat as she settled things up with the young man. 

"I'll meet you outside, huh?" He whispered to her as he passed. Charlotte glanced over to her and nodded before turning her attention back to the young man. 

Yami leaned against the wall next to the restaurant's door and sucked in the smoke from a cigarette as he waited on Charlotte to meet him. He smiled as he thought about dinner and how it had seemed to fly by, but at the same time, seemed to have been a moment frozen. He was more certain than ever some connection was building between them. But he still needed to be sure.

Charlotte stepped through the door and stopped a few steps away from him. She looked around, not noticing he was behind her. 

Yami dropped the cigarette to the ground and extinguished it with the toe of his boot. 

"Hey." He called as he pulled himself from the wall. "You, uh, wanna go for a walk?" He asked, realizing he was not ready for the night to end. 

"Sure." Charlotte looked up at him. "Anywhere in particular?"

Yami shrugged.

"I was just thinking a stroll would be nice." 

"Yeah. It would." Charlotte smiled in a way that lit her face up like the moon lit the night sky. The pale moonlight danced in her hair, competing with the flicker of firelight from the lanterns which lined the streets. They walked silently, side-by-side down the street toward a wide plaza. 

A few steps away from the open area, Yami stopped and looked at Charlotte as she took another couple of steps.

"Charlotte. Was this... the whole thing... a date?" Despite the company and relaxed conversation, Yami still had not figured it out.

Charlotte stopped and then turned around. Yami hadn't expected the glimpse of panic on her face.

"I guess... I guess yeah, it was." She sounded nervous. "Is... I mean, I hope that's... okay?" 

Yami evaluated her a moment while processing his discovery. He had felt the connection between them building for a while, though he had difficulty at first teasing out the meaning of it. But now he was certain. And his desire to kiss her earlier now made far more sense. 

He took two steps to close the short distance between them.

"No... I mean, yeah, it's okay. Better than okay, because now I won't feel that weird doing this." He tilted her chin up and kissed her softly once, and then twice. And the third time, she kissed him back. 

A dam broke inside of him as he kissed her and the desire which flooded him guided his hands to her waist, back, and through her hair. Something similar must have been released within her, he thought, given how she gripped at his shirt and the back of his neck. 

Charlotte pulled back panting.

"Yeah, that would have been awkward if this wasn't a date."

Yami chuckled and kissed her again right on the tip of her nose before leaning to capture her lips once more. 

Charlotte forced the kiss to be kept short as she pulled away from him again.

"I should... I should go." The look in her eyes told him leaving was the last thing she wanted. He didn't want her to leave either. "My squad will be worried sick that I"m not back by now."

Yami nodded and stepped back from the embrace to which he was trying in vain to cling. 

"Probably." The concern her squad might have for her was not something he could relate to. "But, Charlotte. I... I had a really nice time tonight."

She smiled up at him again.

"Yeah. Me too."

"I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime." He met her smile with one of his own.

"I would like that I think," Charlotte answered in the calm and even voice she had often used in meetings. "But this time, you figure it all out." She poked him in the chest with one finger. Yami reeled backward as if the slight jab held more force behind it. He caught her hand and brought it to his lips.

"Fair enough." He flashed a lopsided grin before releasing her hand.

Charlotte sputtered and fidgeted nervously, but could not keep from smiling.

"Well, yeah, okay... I should... I should go." She turned quickly and strode across the square.

Yami watched her disappear into the night before turning for home himself. He lit a cigarette he placed between his lips and inhaled deeply, but for some reason, it did not taste nearly as good as her kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yami plans a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... these two horny mother fuckers...
> 
> So this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it turns out these two can't keep their hands off of each other now, so rating change and another chapter at least before this wraps up.

The note came through formal channels, which is why she was surprised by the sender. She had expected him to make arrangements for their next date through a magic communicator, not a written invitation. The message was neatly written, almost meticulous, but the wording screamed Yami's informality. Charlotte chuckled as she read it. 

"So I guess we'll be dining at your base then," she muttered as she lay the note on her desk. She leaned forward, propping her chin against enfolded hands, and stared wistfully out the window. She smiled as the thought of him kissing her again crossed her mind, of his whispered "Don't Run". She leaned back and stretched in her chair before standing up. If she was to be dining at his house, Charlotte figured she would need to find something to wear.

She left her office, still smiling. She passed several of her squad members on the way to her bedroom, and from their looks, she knew there would be questions to answer. But not now. Not today. Today she was just going to worry about having a lovely evening with the man she cared for, and who seemed to also care for her.

"Captain?" Puli called after as she passed, but Charlotte just kept walking. As much as her squad wanted to help her, and had indeed helped her to get this far, she also knew they would make a bigger deal of the situation than it was. 

***

"I don't care where you go, or what you do, I want all of you gone for the rest of the day. Don't come back until tomorrow." Yami announced to the gathered group of Black Bulls in the common room. 

"Does this mean I can go see Marie?" Gauche was the first to respond.

"Yes. Go. I don't care where." 

The room was abuzz with sudden discussion as people made plans and speculated about the reason why Yami had kicked them out for the night before departing as asked.

"Wait. Asta, you stay for a bit and clean this place up." Yami signaled, indicating the entire common room. 

"Aye, Captain!" The ever-excitable kid quickly got to work even as everyone else was leaving. 

Yami disappeared down the hallway briefly as he recounted his plan for that night. He had invited Charlotte over for dinner. He knew between his debts and gambling habits he could not afford a fancy place like the one she had taken him to. But he also knew he wasn't a terrible cook, even if he was a bit rusty since Charmy's sheep cooks had taken over such duties. He had an idea of what he would make, but he needed to see what he could get picked up at the market. He returned to the kitchen with his bag of coins and recounted the meager amount within. He took stock of what remained in the pantry, noting the distinct lack of wine and sweeteners – no sugar, no honey. Yami sighed. He wasn't that good at deserts anyway, so he resigned himself to purchasing something sweet after dinner. He double-checked the stock of tea – it was also nearly gone, though it didn't look as if anyone had touched it in a while. 

"Too busy drink the alcohol probably..." he muttered.

"Captain?" Asta poked his head into the kitchen. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you kicking us out?"

"I'm not kicking you out, and I do mind you asking." Yami continued taking mental note of the poor shape of the pantry.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so interested in the pantry or even the kitchen before," Asta said, making conversation as he cleaned in the kitchen. Yami ignored him, and yet Asta continued.

"I mean, I know you've made sure that we've got food and stuff from time to time, but Miz Charmy is usually the one staring in there like that. Or Miz Vanessa, but only if she's looking for some wine."

"It's nothing, Kid. Worry about your own business." Yami frowned as he finished his examination and compared the needs to the funds he had to meet them. He knew most of the standard goods he needed he could requisition from Julius, but there was no guarantee he would get them in time. The process often took days. Charmy usually gave him a list before things got this bad, but then... it had been a crazy time lately. And anything specific that he needed would either take longer to get through normal channels or wouldn't be available at all. He took out a slip of paper and started a list. He would get what he could and request the rest, even if it meant picking up small amounts of stuff he would normally have shipped in.

Asta hummed at the sink as he scrubbed the grime off of the pots and dishes which had been collected there. 

"I really need to do dishes more often..." 

Despite his age and his penchant for being obnoxious, Asta always seems so much more grounded and mature than everyone else. Yami had to admit to including himself in that number from time to time. Had it not been for Asta, Yami could not imagine inviting Charlotte over for dinner as he had. 

"Hey, Kid." Yami stopped right before he exited the kitchen.

"Yeah, Captain?" 

"Thanks. And uh, can you keep up with the pantry inventory from now on? I don't know if I trust Charmy to do it." 

Asta beamed and saluted with a wet soapy hand, his enthusiasm showing through. 

"Yes, sir."

Yami turned to go but then turned back as another thought came to him.

"Oh, and can you make sure Henri has dinner before you leave? I don't need him wandering around aimlessly because he's hungry tonight."

"And feed the beasts too, right Captain?"

"Yeah."

Yami nodded before leaving for the base for the market. 

As he entered the market square in the nearest town, he noticed some young men playing dice. He looked over at the wagers but had to force himself away despite the tiny voice telling him he could make so much money from the amateurs. 

But if I won, I could easily afford everything on the list and then some, the voice said. Yami bit his lip and kept walking, ignoring the pull of the game. 

"Shoulda had Finral help with this before I told him to leave," Yami muttered as he looked over the vegetables and fruits on display. He was not mentally prepared to carry back all of his goods, not by himself, not on a broom. As he went through the market collecting supplies and making purchases, his purse grew lighter and lighter. He had wanted to get some flowers or something for Charlotte, but in the end, he had to choose between a dessert to end the night and a token for her. He chose the desert – a small cake, just big enough for two. 

Packaging up his purchases, he slung the bundle onto the broomstick as he mounted it outside the town and took it to the air. As he flew over the forest between the Black Bulls base and the town, Yami noticed a clearing painted in the vibrant colors of wildflowers. They weren't the roses and lilies he had seen in the market, but Yami figured they would work just as well. He landed in the middle of the clearing and set to work picking a bouquet. 

When he returned to the hideout, Asta was just leaving to train. Or maybe he was going to run to the nearest town. The kid did some weird things sometimes. 

"I made that list you asked for. Oh, flowers? That'll brighten things up. Sister Lily would always bring in flowers from the fields when they were in bloom." Asta said as he noticed the brightly colored blooms in Yami's hands. "But Captain, why do you have flowers?"

"You done in the house?" Yami asked, ignoring the question.

"Yes, sir." Asta continued to look at the bouquet in Yami's large fist, waiting for an answer.

"Good. Now go do whatever you were planning to do." Yami walked past Asta and into the building without another word.

Once inside, Yami went to work sorting and storing the items he had procured for the dinner and set the flowers in an old wine bottle whose top had been broken off. Magna had used it as target practice a while back and the open edge had been melted into a smooth rim instead of a jagged, sharp edge. He placed the makeshift vase on the center of one of the smaller tables in the hideout. While the table had room for several people, he figured it would be the best to use for just two. 

He had told Charlotte to come in the evening, and yet he hadn't found himself able to relax since he had woken in the morning – far earlier than he normally did. He would not need to begin cooking for a while still, but he found he could not simply sit down and do nothing. Asta had already cleaned the house far more effectively than he would have ever been able to do on his own. Yami sat in a large plush chair and tried reading the paper. He couldn't focus. He took the paper to the bathroom instead.

The hideout seemed almost eerie in the silence, and even as he sat upon his throne, between the quiet around him and the cacophony of thoughts in his head, he still could not focus on the paper in his hands. He closed the newspaper and looked up at the ceiling. 

He wanted the evening with Charlotte to be nice, personal, maybe even romantic, and definitely not interrupted by the mass chaos which happened on the daily in the Black Bulls base. He might be ready to see Charlotte as something more than a colleague, but he was not sure she was ready for the insanity of his family. He was not ready to expose her to that, which is why he had told the rest of the squad to leave. And they all seemed happy to go and to be able to have a surprise day off where they did not have to worry about training or what the future held. 

But they had also speculated, and Asta had even asked him outright, why Yami had told them to leave.

And he had not been able to bring himself to tell them.

Not like they needed to know, but they were his friends, his family even. Shouldn't he be able to tell them of all people? Why had he held back?

He leaned forward, pressing his elbows to his knees and his face into his palms. He rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. 

The last dinner with Charlotte had made it obvious to him that he liked spending time with her. That he liked her. He really liked her. He hoped tonight's dinner would only be the first of many they would share – not in a restaurant, but a more intimate setting. And part of him hoped that tonight might not stop with dinner. He definitely wanted to kiss her again. Had he told his squad to leave because he hoped things would progress beyond just kissing? 

He hadn't really planned for anything more than dinner – not that he wouldn't appreciate it – but he doubted Charlotte would want to take things that far on the second date.   
No, it wasn't planning for anything else to happen which kept him from telling his squad why he didn't want them there. So what was it? Why had he felt so hesitant to open up?   
Yami sighed and decided on a bath, hoping it would clear his mind. The warm water always relaxed him and helped to put his mind at ease. And if it didn't, he figured he wouldn't have time to worry about it anyway after a bath. 

The bath did nothing to help his worry, so he put it aside as a future problem to solve. Now he needed to focus on making dinner. As he stoked the fire in the wood-burning oven, he cursed himself for not having Magna start it up before he had sent everyone away for the day. He also muttered to himself that he could have asked Charmy to help at least with the chopping if he hadn't been so bull-headed. Despite his regret at doing everything on his own, nearly everything was cooked or close to it by the time Charlotte arrived. She had shown up exactly as the appointed hour was marked by the bell tower in the nearby town. Yami sighed as he looked around at everything, cursing himself once more for never having gotten around to putting a clock in the common room, but then he had never needed it before.

He dusted his flour-covered hands off on his pants as he went to open the door. 

"Hey, you're..." He started to say as he pulled open the door but stopped in mid-sentence as he caught sight of her. "Wow." She had her hair pulled up, like normal, but instead of the up-sweep revealing her gorget, it revealed her long neck instead. A short black jacket covered her shoulders but did little to cover the deep neckline of the dress she wore. In fact, the dress seemed as if it were barely able to contain her bosom. He caught himself staring at the curve where her pale skin met the bright blue and red sides of the dress and forced his gaze back to her eyes. She was blushing and she crossed her arms over herself, but that only served to draw his gaze even further. 

"Hey." She said almost shyly. "You look like a mess."

Yami ran his hand through his hair. He believed her. After the cooking frenzy, he felt he needed another shower. 

"Yeah... I had a little mishap in the kitchen." His eyes continued to drift across her bare skin. She wasn't showing any more than she had that other night when the Blue Rose Knights had invited the Black Bulls out for a dinner party, but something about her now seemed so much more intimate. Maybe it was the setting? Maybe it was because he knew now why she was always so anxious around him? Maybe it was because all he wanted to do was to press his lips against her bare neck.

"Are we planning to eat outside?" She asked, snapping him out of his contemplation. She still blushed as she looked up at him and he found himself in awe for just a moment of how much her crystal blue eyes stood out against her pink flushed cheeks. 

Just kiss her, he told himself as he saw how she held her bottom lip, which had been reddened slightly, between her teeth. 

"Oh, sorry. Come on in." He stepped out of the doorway and let her pass. The perfume rising from her skin was light and clean, and also downright maddening to him. He watched her as she examined the large room from a few steps inside the door. 

Her split color skirt swished around her calves, just below her knees, but the space beneath it was filled with soft brown boots instead of bare legs. The black jacket touched her mid-back, just above her narrow waist; it seemed to beckon him to encircle her frame with his hands. 

Instead, Yami closed the door and stood watching her until she turned around. 

"It's neater than I expected from the outside." Charlotte tried making conversation, but Yami could barely hear her words over the thrumming of his heart pushing him into action. He closed the distance between them quickly and pulled her into his arms without much thought or planning. His lips met hers in a long-awaited kiss which seemed to stretch into eternity. 

And when he looked into her eyes again, at the deep red flush of her cheeks and the pout in her lips, he knew why he had sent everyone away. He may not have planned for it, but part of him certainly had hoped for more than a kiss. He wanted her in a way he had not wanted anyone else before. And the look she gave him said she wanted him too. 

"You look amazing." He managed to find words even as his body demanded to be turned over to desire.

She smiled at the compliment, not the guarded smile he had seen before, or the soft introspective smile she wore on the night of the dinner party. No, this smile was broad, open, and joyful. This smile dazzled him. 

He kissed her again, softly, quickly, barely enough to satisfy his needs for the moment.

"Thanks. Puli insisted I dress a little less... prudish, to use her exact word."

"Well, tell her I definitely appreciate the suggestion." He licked his lips. "So, uh, can I take your coat?"

Charlotte smiled and turned her back to him, offering the neck of the thin jacket to him. He slipped the garment off of her shoulders and released a sighing breath as his fingertips brushed her skin. The scent of her overwhelmed his senses, and the long line of her back, as he peeled the dark layer away, seemed to demand his touch. He held her jacket in one hand as he placed his other on her shoulder before tracing a line down her back until he hit the waist of her dress. His touch made her skin ripple down her spine. He let out a long slow breath as he looked at her back. 

Charlotte turned back to him and he noticed her appearance seemed softer in some way. Her lips seemed fuller and her eyes seemed wider, bluer than normal. 

"So, are you going to show me around?"

"Um, sure." He closed his eyes for a moment, not much longer than a blink to help him refocus. He laid her jacket on the back of a chair and guided her into the house. He led her through the common room where his squad tended to socialize, eat, drink, and whatever else. He showed her the baths and the toilet before taking her down the hallway past the living quarters.

"Which one's yours?" She slipped her hand into his. 

"You don't want to see mine. Besides, mine is in a different part of the house." 

"Maybe later, then." She squeezed his hand and looked up at him coyly, or at least she tried to. If the red blush on her cheeks were any indication, Charlotte was definitely struggling with something, he thought. He chose to ignore the comment, at least for now.

"This next room is a little... strange." He warned as he stopped in front of the door. "I don't come in here too often, though I probably should."

"Now you have me intrigued." Charlotte smiled at him and her eyes lit up with excitement. 

Yami sighed and opened the door...

... and stepped into a dark room that looked akin to a prison. The depths of the room were shrouded in shadows, but a barrier formed from heavy, thick metal bars spanned the girth of the space. Whatever Charlotte had expected, Yami thought, she had not been prepared for this. 

Several pairs of glowing red eyes suddenly lit the darkness, followed by a deep growling. 

"Oh stop that," Yami spoke to the darkness. The growling stopped. "Asta fed you already today." A curious grunting came from the shadows, followed quickly by three large beasts. The creatures stopped at the fence separating them from Yami and Charlotte. One of them pawed at the gate as if it were asking to be let free.

"No, last time you got out, you wrecked a nearby village and ended up stealing my squad members." Yami reached his arm through the bars and scratched each of the creature's fur. "Besides, I'm a little too busy to play right now." The three creatures whined before asking for more scratches. Yami turned back to Charlotte, only to see her wide-eyed with shock and her mouth hanging open. 

"Are those... Are those what I think they are?" She stammered.

"Uh, yeah. I had killed their parents on a mission and, well, they were just little things back then. I couldn't leave them alone. They would have died."

"But they are magical beasts which tend to terrorize villages, right?" Charlotte stayed near the door of the room.

"Yeah, I mean, they would if they were running free, probably. But they just won't leave me alone now." Yami scratched the head of one of them absently. "Come on over, say hi." 

"They look dangerous." Her voice seemed to quiver.

"You're not scared, are you?"

"No. Of course not." She sounded defensive, but she squared her shoulders and walked forward toward the creatures. 

At first, they growled at her, causing her to stumble backward.

"Hey, stop that," Yami warned, raising the mana pressure in the room to punctuate the warning. "She's not going to hurt you." 

The creatures seemed to settle in response to his mana. Charlotte continued toward them. Yami could feel her apprehension in her ki – how her heart beat faster and her breath came a little quicker. She met the eyes of one of the creatures.

"You can touch it." Yami coaxed.

"I don't know if it wants me to." She said as the creature bared its teeth.

"I won't let them hurt you." 

"I can't believe you just keep them here like this." 

"Like what?"

"Like pets. Or... prisoners." 

The creature's face seemed to change, to grow sadder, and it butted its large head against the bars. Charlotte reached out and brushed the soft brown fur with the tips of her fingers. The creature made a noise that was not unpleasant but also like nothing she had heard before. Charlotte pressed her hand between the bars separating them from the creatures and buried her fingers in the thick pelt.

"If I could let them go, I would, ya know. Every time I tried, they would just find their way back to me. And now, well, they're too comfortable to want to go back to the wild. They might not be like your average dog; they are still pretty fierce, but I don't think they could survive without me anymore. Well, at least without Asta... He feeds them."

"They are so soft." Charlotte marveled at the feel of each of the creature's fur. 

"Yeah. Soft but stinky." 

"I never pegged you as so tender-hearted." 

Yami chuckled.

"Yeah, well, I guess we're all full of surprises today." 

"What do you mean?" Charlotte turned to him. Yami scratched the head of one of the creatures for a moment before meeting her stare.

"I mean, your... uh, your dress is... so unlike you."

Charlotte covered her chest with her arms.

"I told Puli it would be too much, but she... insisted."

"Was she the mastermind behind the dress you wore at the other dinner? The party thing?"

He could barely see Charlotte's blush in the dim light, but he could feel the shift in her stance. One of the creatures huffed.

"If you must know, yes, she was."

"Tell her she really has an eye for making you stand out. Not that you don't normally." Yami turned back to the creatures. "I mean, you do tend to light up every room you walk in, even if it's the cold light of a winter's moon."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Her voice crept upward in pitch and volume. The creatures let out a low growl once more.

"Oh, just that you can sometimes seem, I don't know, out of reach... I guess." Yami didn't know why he made the connection. He blurted out the first thing that came to mind. And he felt his heart seize as she scoffed. She turned back to the creature and rubbed its head furiously. Yami sighed.

"I mean, what else was I to think? What with all the running away you've done, all the insults?" He said quietly. "You probably never realized how many times you broke my heart, Charlotte. Eventually, I guess I would have gotten used to it."

Charlotte stopped her furious petting of the beast but stroked its brow gently before turning to Yami.

"I broke your heart?"

"Oh boy, sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble."

"Just... explain, please?"

Yami took a deep breath and looked at the animal nudging Charlotte's shoulder for more attention. He could not bring himself to meet her gaze. 

"I was never joking with you when I said it was sad how you didn't have someone in your life." His voice was barely above a whisper. He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell her how he hoped it could be him to stand by her side, but the words died on his tongue and twisted up inside of him. Instead, he said nothing lest he sticks his foot in his mouth once  
more. 

"I have lots of people in my life. My whole squad supports me."

Yami's mouth curled up in a disbelieving smile as he closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again and met her gaze, the moment of vulnerability had passed. She was either baiting him or she was clueless about how he felt. He thought she was too smart to be that dense, but then again, maybe they were more alike than they cared to admit in that regard. Or maybe, they had spent so long building up their defenses that it was taking a painfully long time to break through them.

"Well, let's get going. Dinner should be almost ready." He turned with resignation to the door.

"Yami wait." Her hand gripped his upper arm as he reached out to the door handle. He turned back to her, surprised to see the blue of her eyes so clearly in the dim light of the room. She held his gaze for a moment as she took a breath. He could not deny the tingling he felt as she searched his eyes; it was electric, like lightning coursing through his veins.

She took hold of his shirt and pulled him towards her, pressing her lips against his in a desperate, unrefined kiss. His hand fell from the handle on the door and lightly gripped her waist instead as he met her desperation with his own. Hopefully, this makes her understand, he thought as he let himself relax into her. 

Her grip on his shirt softened and her hands fluttered lightly against his chest before sliding up around his neck.

The creatures whimpered and huffed impatiently in the background.

***

Charlotte couldn't believe her ears. What was he talking about? How had she possibly broken his heart? All of those times he had teased her had been a joke, right? He hadn't actually meant what he said. 

"I broke your heart." She could not keep the incredulous tone from her voice. Her mind kept circling to how she could have possibly affected him so. She ignored his off-hand comment about getting in trouble as her mind reeled. 

"Just... explain, please?" 

Her heart thudded in her chest threatening to drown his words as he turned everything she had long thought of their relationship upside down. Sure she had wanted him for what felt like an eternity, but she had never imagined his teasing could be a cover for his own insecurities. It was simply who he was. 

She responded automatically, defensively trying to deflect his words once more, to hide behind the wall she had long ago built to protect her heart. He shook his head and sighed before turning to the door. Charlotte sighed and felt like banging her head against the wall. Why did she always sabotage herself? She swallowed hard as he mentioned something about dinner, steeling herself and building her resolve. She had finally managed to give her gift to him, she had invited him to dinner for real as a date and not some contrived meeting her squad set up. She was so close to breaking through. It felt silly for his admission to have derailed her progress. 

"Yami, wait."

She reached out to him, staying his hand with her touch. She could not back down now. She grabbed at the fabric of his shirt and pulled him to her lips. She immediately felt stupid and awkward in her actions, but she refused to relent. The kiss must have startled him as she wallowed in her awkwardness for what felt like a lifetime before he returned the pressure against his lips, softening it as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her ever more tightly against his body.

The soft grunting of the monsters which shared the room seemed to fall away, deafened by the sound of her heart hammering against her chest and the soft sighs she could not keep within her as he kissed her back. She loosened her grip on his shirt as her skin sought the touch of his. Her fingertips brushed his neck, feeling the rapid fluttering of his pulse as he held tightly to her hips. 

She wanted more. She wanted everything and nothing but for this moment to last forever. She wanted his hands on her body, to feel their roughness against her skin, to have him against her, to feel him within her. 

She pushed him against the door, crushing her body into his, demanding he accept her desire. She hooked a leg around him, hitching up her skirt and giving him free access to her thigh and more as she leaned heavily into his other hand. He took the opening. She had never expected him to let it pass him by. He might not be the smartest in many ways, but in a battle – and this was nothing if not a battle of wills, she told herself – he would never let an opportunity slip through his fingers. She moaned against his lips as his rough palm gripped at her now bare thigh. His other hand scratched at the bare skin of her back as it slithered up over the low-cut fabric of her dress. She sucked in a breath at the touch wondering if this was all too much too quickly, but deep down she admitted to herself she had never intended to leave without satisfying the desire so long buried. 

He pushed her away from his mouth without warning, though he held on to her thigh as if it were the only thing keeping him from drowning. His dark eyes seemed black in the dim light and his breath came in ragged pants, or was that hers? The way he licked his lips and kept searching her face only to have his eyes landing on her mouth once more told her all she needed to know about what he wanted. As if the swelling in his pants wasn't enough of a sign. She circled her hips into his, an action that brought out a groan from his throat. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. 

Charlotte leaned in and kissed him beneath his jaw and then traced her lips down his neck to the bit of shoulder his shirt had exposed. 

"We really should go have dinner." He said on a breathy exhale as the arm he had pushed her away with earlier circled her waist once more and pulled her against him again. 

Charlotte leaned back into his embrace for a moment, looking into his dark eyes. A tilt of her head beckoned him, calling his lips to her soft, tender spot where her neck met her shoulder.

"Dinner can wait." Charlotte panted as he nibbled at her neck. She gripped at the tops of his arms, digging her short fingernails into his thick muscles as he turned and pushed her back against the wall. Pulling up the other side of her skirt, he gripped the thigh of her supporting leg and drew her knee upward. Instinctively, Charlotte locked her legs around his waist and let the wall support her weight. He kissed her again, roughly, desperately, as desperate as she had felt for so long. 

"You sure?" He asked, his voice a whisper against her lips. His hands had moved from her thighs to somewhere she couldn't feel them.

"Yeah." She breathed as she leaned more firmly against the wall as she tried to move her skirts from between them. And then in a moment, he was inside her. Charlotte gasped at the fullness of the feeling as he pressed himself into her.

"It's alright?" He held her, letting her adjust as she needed.

Charlotte nodded as she slowly rocked her hips back and forth, feeling every inch of him touching her in ways no one else ever had. And still, she wanted more. 

Yami slipped his thumb between them, brushing her right above where their bodies joined as he met her rhythm slowly moving in and out of her, sliding his thumb back and forth against her as she let out a shuddering gasp and her eyes slid shut. Charlotte smiled before kissing him again and losing herself in his touch. 

***

The rush of release came quickly, far more quickly than Yami had expected. But then he had never expected that he would end up fucking Charlotte against the wall of the monster room either. He held tightly to her, resting his forehead against her shoulder as he could feel the last of her throes of passion gripping him. She sighed loudly as she relaxed and squirmed against him. Stepping away from her, withdrawing from her made his limbs shake with exertion as he lowered her weight to the ground. He hurriedly fastened his trousers before looking at her hesitantly. 

She watched him, smiling and chewing on the corner of her bottom lip. Her cheeks were flushed, as they so often were when he had talked to her before, but her expression was far more open than he had ever seen it. Her satisfaction was plain to see, as was her desire. 

"Well." Her voice was still breathless. "I could definitely eat now." She lifted herself from the wall and placed her hand on his chest. 

Yami placed his hand over hers. He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed her knuckles before wrapping her arm around his.

"Let's hope it's not burned." He pulled the door open and led her into the hallway.

Charlotte's laughter floated through the air like a melody from a dream which came rushing back to him as it echoed through the hallway. She leaned against his arm and placed her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sure it will be fine."


End file.
